I can barely watch KCET, let alone become a subscriber, and the reason is pledge break, when shows that would never run during regular programming intervals are carpet-bombed into prime time, along with offers of DVDs and other various and sundry crap as enticements to pledge money to the tation.

In L.A. Observed today, I learned that they played the black-and-white Roy Orbison special for probably the 200th time.

I love Roy Orbison as much as the next guy, but sheesh -- they trot out this thing every pledge drive. I am sick of it, just as I am sick of Suze Orman, Wayne Dyer, the legends of doo-wop, Irish tenors, Celtic women, Italian tenors, and all the other self-help gurus and marketing-rich musical acts that clog pledge breaks.

KCET and public television in general, listen to what I am saying (in BOLD type because I'm an angry man):

If you want me to support your programming, SHOW ME THAT PROGRAMMING -- not a bunch of canned crap that is NOT part of your regular schedule and pretty much serves as an hourlong commercial for the artist/guru/shill singing/haranguing us to please, please subscribe and get their DVD (or, more probably, forget about subscribing and get their latest gem on Amazon).

I'm serious. Public radio doesn't pull this crap. Either the on-air-talent does a regular show AND asks for you to support exactly what they're already doing, or in the case of network programming, the local talent breaks in and asks for you to support "this great NPR programming," whatever that may be. That I can get behind 100 percent.

But Suze Orman hectoring me about my spending habits? Irish tenors singing popular hits? NO. NO. NO.

Show me what you've got, public TV, not what you think the average, moneyed 60-year-old white guy feels some kind of nostalgia for (not to knock 60-year-old white guys, but the demographic targeting of PBS pledge breaks is laser focused and nauseating).

There will never be another Roy Orbison ... and that was a great show, filmed great and with a bunch of cool guests (I remember Springsteen ... the rest has been burned out of my brain). But I've seen it ... again and again. Pledge breaks, as they are currently programmed, just turn me off of PBS.